Jack Lynch

Jack Lynch (15 August 1917-20 October 1999) was Taoiseach of Ireland from 10 November 1966 to 14 March 1973 (succeeding Sean Lemass and preceding Liam Cosgrave) and from 5 July 1977 to 11 December 1979 (succeeding Cosgrave and preceding Charles Haughey). He was a member of Fianna Fail.

Biography
Jack Lynch was born in Shandon, County Cork, Ireland in 1917, and he was educated at University College Cork and King's Inns Dublin. Lynch gained his first fame as a sportsman, playing club hurling and soccer. In the 1940s he captured five All-Ireland medals for hurling and one for Gaelic football. He was elected to the Dail Eireann for Cork City in 1948, and served in a number of ministerial posts, including Education Minister from 1957 to 1959, Minister of Industry and Commerce from 1959 to 1965, and Minister of Finance from 1965 to 1966 before succeeding Sean Lemass as leader of Fianna Fail in 1966, and being elected Taoiseach. His first government struggled with reaction to the eruption of violence in Northern Ireland in 1969, and he famously announced that the government of the Republic would not "stand by" while Catholics in Northern Ireland were harassed by Protestant paramilitaries. After question sof scandal involving connections between some of his ministers (such as Charles Haughey) and the Provisional IRA, Lynch dismissed them and stated that peace and justice in Northern Ireland must come through consent. His government tried to reduce militant nationalist activity in the Republic. He was defeated in the 1973 elections by Liam Cosgrave, but won in 1977 with a large majority. Internal party divisions led to his resignation in December 1979, when he was succeeded by Haughey.